Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
I finally understand why the Hawks drafted Josh Childress so high. It is the same reason that brought Al Harrington to town. It is because of a vicious cycle whose final symptom is "the Atlanta premium."
I checked the usual explanations: scouting and management. But Atlanta does not have bad scouts: they got Kenny Anderson, Antoine Walker, and Al Harrington. They pursued Kenyon Martin. They see talent where it is, even at the level of coaches. Mike Woodson is a great pickup for the Hawks.
Atlanta does not have bad management, either. The trade that brought in Al Harrington was a marvel, possibly Atlanta's best move of the entire off-season. Walker may bring more to the table today but he's not going to be around next season, most likely. Harrington could become a fixture.
The real culprit is a vicious cycle of losing that keeps both the fans and the typical player out. Players like Harrington and Childress, who are happy to play in Atlanta, are few and far between. Most players require some sort of kicker or Atlanta "premium" to come here. Martin wouldn't come here for a max deal. Dampier wouldn't come here for a fair deal. The only way the Hawks can keep quality players, it seems, is to overpay them.
Players are crawling all over themselves to play in a market like LA or New York because of the media exposure, the endorsements, the lifestyle, the winning, and the fans. Atlanta has none, or at least a lot less, of each of those things.
Harrington received his premium in the form of minutes. Coming to Atlanta meant he could finally start with no one in front of him. Walker, though it wasn't his choice, receives a slight premium in the form of exposure in his contract year.
Childress's premium was being picked so high.
Yup. That's my current thinking. Atlanta had to pick somebody that they were sure weren't going to pull a fit and demand a trade, whether immediately or in a year or two.
I used to think Atlanta's strategy was to collect wing players from Georgia but it seems that that is a consequence, perhaps the only possible logical consequence, of having an Atlanta premium. Premium point guards and centers tend to be overpriced and in short supply, meaning they are at or close to the maximum salary: there is nothing more that Atlanta can offer. But wing players, especially young ones, tend to want minutes on teams that are typically deep at such a position.
Furthermore, the more local the player is, the less likely he will demand a trade in the future.
Now, Luol Deng, who I among others projected as being in the top three, was still available. The biggest question is why didn't Atlanta take Deng over Childress. Answer that, and you've answered the whole mystery.
The only explanation that works for me today is that the Hawks management thought that a Josh Childress picked higher than expected would be less likely to demand a trade or be grumpy than a Luol Deng picked lower than expected.
Atlanta needs stability to win, and it needs to win to get fans. To get stability, it needs players who won't gripe. To get players who won't gripe, they need to overpay them in some way, whether it is more minutes, money, or a higher pick than other teams are offering, or whether it is just trying to get local players with potential.
Chemistry takes time. A team constantly in transition will never learn to jell and win. Atlanta's priority right now is on survival.
And that's why they drafted Josh Childress.
TEAM NOTES
Training Camp Central: New owners, new coaches, new players, new attitude. The 2004-05 Hawks season promises to be a memorable one and as the season gets under way, get all the latest Hawks news, notes and features at Training Camp Central.
Our own Patrick J. Austin ofHoopsworld.comwrites: Overall, I’d have to say we had a solid off-season; nothing spectacular but nothing awful either. I can’t say we are a playoff team, but we will definitely be competitive and could have a .500 record.And who knows, since we are in the worst division in sports, having a .500 record could get us into the postseason. Remember, anything is possible.
Jeremy Peppas ofThe Jackson Sunwrites: All along, Reginald Delk and Richard Delk said they would be attending college together. The North Side seniors and identical twins made it official on Monday, verbally committing to Mississippi State. They will likely sign in the early signing period in November... Their uncle, Tony Delk of Brownsville, was the Final Four MVP when the University of Kentucky won the national championship in 1996.He was recently traded to the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, where he has played since graduating from Kentucky. The twins' father, Rickey Delk, graduated from Lambuth as the Eagles' all-time leading scorer. Their sister, Genevieve, is a senior at the University of South Alabama, where she returns as the starting center. Also at South Alabama is cousin Leslie Delk, who graduated from Haywood High last year.